MLB Bets Today: Free MLB Picks for Tuesday, May 17

MLB Bets Today: Free MLB Picks for Tuesday, May 17

This article is part of our MLB Picks series.

Previous article 4-4-1  +3.83

Season 50-52-1 +14.90

Detroit Tigers at Tampa Bay Rays 6:40 pm EDT

Beau Brieske vs. Shane McClanahan

One of the first things I look for in betting a baseball slate is the game with the biggest difference in starting pitching. The Tigers' offense has been one of the worst in baseball and now get to play in one of the lowest run-scoring parks in Tropicana. McClanahan has emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball with a 2.52 ERA, 38.2% K, 6.6% BB for a major league-best 31.6% K-BB.

With such a huge money line and a low total of 6.5, this game lends itself to some props on McClanahan.

The Tigers have averaged 2.4 runs in 15 road games. McClanahan has had at least seven strikeouts in every start except one (vs. Seattle on the road). Every now and then, a game lines up to where you have to really get as many ways as possible. I had one earlier in the year in the Padres Giants where I took under 3 runs and it hit.

MLB Best Bet #1 for Rays-Tigers: Rays -1.5 runs for 1.14 RW buck (FanDuel -114)

MLB Best Bet #2 for Rays-Tigers – McClanahan over 7.5 strikeouts for 1.15 RW buck (BetMGM -115)

MLB Best Bet #3 for Rays-Tigers – McClanahan under 1.5 earned runs for 1.1 RW buck (BetMGM –110)

MLB Best Bet #4 for Rays-Tigers – McClanahan under 4.5 hits allowed for 1.34 RW buck (FanDuel -134)

New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles 7:05 pm EDT

Jameson Taillon vs. Spenser Watkins

Taillon has been consistent this year in his six starts with a 25/3 strikeout to walk result and allowing 2 earned runs or less in all. The under in this series has been 7-2-1 in the last 10 games. The under in Baltimore has been 11-4-2 this year. The run differential between the two teams is high also with the Yankees scoring 4.94 runs and the Orioles just 3.22 (29th).

MLB Best Bet #1 for Yankees-Orioles – Yankees -1.5 for 1.33 RW buck (BetMGM -133)

MLB Best Bet #2 for Yankees-Orioles – Under 8.5 runs for 1.10 RW buck (DraftKings -110)


Houston Astros vs. Boston Red Sox 7:10 pm EDT

Jose Urquidy vs. Nathan Eovaldi

It takes a while for oddsmakers to shed the team reputations and we get that here with the Red Sox/Astros total of 8.5. Both teams are a combined 44-20-7 to the under this year.  Neither team is living up to their offensive juggernaut reputation and I would definitely shop around to get the extra half run in this game.

MLB Best Bet for Astros-Red Sox: Under 8.5 runs for 1 RW buck (DraftKings +100)

Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers 10:00 pm EDT

Merrill Kelly vs. Tyler Anderson

I very rarely will take a large underdog to outright win, but getting +1.5 runs in this spot does make the Diamondbacks attractive. We get the better starting pitcher in Kelly over Anderson and the Diamondbacks have played above expectations and the Dodgers are just 3-5 in their last 8 games.

The D-Backs are 7-3 in their last 10 road games, averaging 5.3 runs per game.

MLB Best Bet for Diamondbacks-Dodgers: Diamondbacks +1.5 for 1.15 RW buck (BetMGM -115)

Before you place your bets, be sure to use all of RotoWire's MLB resources, like our MLB Lineups page, MLB Weather page, and the best batter vs. pitcher stats.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Rathburn
Known as “Rath” in the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) community, he has helped run operations for two prominent daily fantasy sports startups. Michael has taken his insider knowledge and expertise in daily fantasy sports to the content side. Rath won the 2016 FSWA "Baseball Article of the Year, Online" award and was a finalist for the FSWA Best Baseball Series in 2011.
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